Father, we thank you for this day and the opportunity that you give to us. That on this Sabbath that you have set apart, that we indeed would come together as a body. That we would come entering, Father, with the right fear towards you. And that we would come, Father, seeking that in our words and our behavior within our mind and our hearts, that they might indeed be Christ-like. We pray, Father, that in this day might you be glorified in all that is done. We pray for those in Sunday school this morning. We thank you, Father, for the opportunity for this short period of time to have the opportunity to look into your word. We pray now, Father, that you might guide and direct and that your presence, Father, might be felt in a real way as we consider the great battle that was waged by Paul and that we wage today in the 21st century for the purity of the gospel. And in your name we pray. Amen. So we got a few more people this morning. I'm excited about that. So you've got to stand up for a moment. And when I say a few more people, those coming in on time, we're going to sing this morning, part of the Mighty Fortress is our God, and would like for us to sing, if you will, the first and the last verse. The first and the last verse. A mighty fortress is our God, of old we're never failing. Our helper He amid the flood, of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe. His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate. On earth is not his equal. That word above all earthly powers, not thanks to them abided. The Spirit and the gifts are ours, through him who with us sided. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also. The body they may kill, God's truth His kingdom is forever. As you know, we've had the opportunity in chapters one and two to see the Apostle Paul as he comes and he presents his credentials to those of the Church of Galatia. In his first missionary journey, he had had the opportunity to establish a number of churches there within this region. And now he hears from a distance that there is trouble. There are those that have come in that are teaching false truth. They are taking the gospel which was presented and they are adding to it. And so he sits down and with his own hand, with bold letters, he will write this letter. We have said that in the life of Paul, this is probably the first letter that he will have written to a church, one of the oldest within the New Testament, James perhaps being the oldest, and then to the Galatians. We said as we consider this, we want to keep this in mind, that the purity of the gospel, must be maintained. From generation to generation, God, from the very beginning of the world, knew that we would be here as believers at this time. And He is looking toward us to carry the gospel truth, and that the light of the world may be shown in the darkness it so surrounds. We say to ourselves that indeed, that if there is a hill that we must stand firm upon and plant the flag, link our shields with one another and not move. It is this hill of the doctrine that encompasses our gospel. For it is our story, it is our song. So we're in Galatians, we're in teaching period number six. You remember in regards to the fact that in the first lesson, I shared with you that there are a number of resources I'm using. I wanna highlight to you three or four of those resources that I'm using today from this lesson from very gifted men. And if you have an opportunity and you're interested in Galatians, I encourage you to consider these. One is The Message of Galatians by John Stout. You'll love him because he is an easy read, but in that easy read there is depth there where he gives you insight in regards to context. He carries to you some definitions that are so critical in understanding the nuances that are there within the Scripture itself. And so a second would be coming. It is one of the first of the reformed exposition or commentaries that have been written. There's going to be a whole set that is done. The first one has been done on the subject of Galatians by Philip Ryken, and consider him. Also, somebody who liked to listen more than you like to read, John MacArthur in the late 1980s, and then once again in the 90s, taught from the book of Galatians. And in 2017 and 2018, he returned to his congregation and said, I need to preach this to you again. And part of it is because over the course of time, he has changed some things in regards as he looks and as he considers the book of Galatians and the gospel. He's been a preeminent author, the gospel according to Jesus, the gospel according to Paul, those books. And I encourage you to read those. But that is a sermon series. And with John MacArthur, for those that have listened to him, know that though he may say, I'm dealing with this particular passage, he's going to take you on some trails that are so very, full of information and nourishment for your consideration of things. And then I have in my possession, and Ryan has in his possession, something that is not on Sermon Audio, but it is his series on 2015. And I will tell you that now that I have been studying Galatians again, to go back to his sermons and to listen to him, the richness that is there and the thanks that we should have for a pastor-teacher that, in fact, so closely gives to us the truth of the Word. So let me encourage you there. 149 verses in Galatians, we've said. We're going through them. We're hitting them verse by verse. I told you I've got 13 weeks, and that means sometimes I am not going to talk like a southerner, okay? I'm from the state of Tennessee, and in the state of Tennessee, we tend to speak very slowly. And so I'm picking up my speed as we go. We finished chapter number one. We're in chapter number two. We're going to extend into chapter number three as quickly as we can move. And so here's the message. To the unclaimed and young converts tucked away in the mountains of Asia Minor, Paul would write this document. He would know that they are facing some problems that are there. Among those were a variety of authorities that were coming in. They were, we would call the Judaizers, false teachers that came from Jerusalem that are now within the congregation. Some of them avert in regards to their feelings in regards to the gospel of not just Jesus, but also of works. And so questioning is occurring by these Galatian believers, for they are young and they are beginning to mature, but there is going to be some frustration from Paul in agitation associated with so how quickly, he says, that they have moved from the gospel that I have spoken to you. So the questions are, how were men and women to be put right with God? Which one of these were speaking the true gospel? Which ones were really understanding what it means to be justified? How could Christians in the midst of a pagan culture live lives that are truly toward God? And so, in the book of Galatians, we'll find an exposition of defense and an application of God's grace. The theme of the exposition, defense, and application of the gospel of God's grace runs from the beginning to the end. He's going to give a strong beginning, as you know. We talked about, he said, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you receive, let him be accursed. Let's translate. Let him be damned. And so he will go on and he will speak back and forth in regards to both this tone that he is speaking. In chapters 1 and 2, he's going to defend his apostleship. You remember that as we went lessons 2 through 5. We looked at that of the defense of his apostleship because he knew this. If they do not believe I am a true apostle, if they do not believe that my commission was from God, and that the mission that I have been given to the Gentiles was solely placed upon me as God, if they do not believe that I am an apostle, then indeed they are gonna question the message. And so he begins us there in chapters one and two and then we looked at. And now as we scoot through the tail end of chapter number two, which is so rich. We'll move into chapter three and four, and it talks in regards to the theological argument for the purity and the accuracy of the gospel. And then in chapters five and six, how wonderful that chapter is, because isn't it when the word of God says, but how do I apply this truth? How do I live out the gospel? What does that look like? God provides that to us through his written word. So, in Galatians chapter two, we started last week, finishing up chapter number two, going into the first part, and we touched upon this text. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, if you being a Jew live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews. How is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? We are Jews by nature, not sinners from among the Gentiles. Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. since by the works of the law no flesh will be justified. But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, if Christ, then a minister of sin, may it never be. For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law, I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes to the law, then Christ died needlessly. Now, I think that we've got, indeed, a beginning note on justification. Because you see that in one of the verses that we're gonna touch upon, it's going to speak of justification. This comes out of Brackel's The Christian Reasonable Service, volume number two. There are four volumes. If you want some wonderful reading, and something that will stimulate your mind, Now this is what he says in regards to justification. Justification, which is the soul of Christianity and the fountainhead of all true comfort and sanctification. He who errs in this doctrine errs to his eternal destruction. The devil, therefore, is continually engaged in denying, perverting, and obscuring the truth. When new error appears on the horizon, even when they do not initially pertain to justification at all, they in time will eventually culminate in affecting this doctrine. One must therefore be all the more earnest to properly understand, defend, and meditate upon the doctrine. From the first teaching period to this teaching period, you're gonna say, hey, Ron, you are really kind of tied up in regards to defending the gospel. And it is because as we look in every century, there are those that erode, little by little, the truth that is there. We only have to go down church road in regards to Todd's flame. And ask them, what is the gospel? And we'll get some answers that have some additions and subtractions to that which we have been taught. We in the 21st century are warriors. We are in a battlefield. We are at war. That the truth of the gospel, the purity of the gospel be maintained. Unless we find ourselves not believing that, then come and have lunch with me and let's talk about those that supposedly are preaching the gospel just down our Todd's Lane. Well, we come to verse 14, and in verse 14 it says, but when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, that being the Judaizers, those from Jerusalem that had come to visit. Also, if you remember, that the others that were with Paul moved toward them and sat on the side of those who were shaking their head, saying, yes, add to the law. They were adding to the party of what some would call the party of the circumcision. And there was one that was with him that was the great encourager within his life that also went with him, Barnabas. And can you not see at this point in time, Paul saying, how in the world Could anyone believe but that which is within the Word of God, in Christ alone through faith alone. Paul gets in his face and he opposes Peter because there's a total contradiction in terms. Here is a man that taught the message of grace and stood for it, yet he turned right around and by his lifestyle showed that he was still giving under the law. He hid behind the mask of Judaism on one hand while he preached the good news of grace. And so this calls for a strong rebuke. May you ever feel free that if you see that we do not teach and preach the gospel, that you rebuke us. So important is that. So there's a theological principle at stake. Twice in the chapter Paul calls it the truth of the gospel. And this is the issue in Jerusalem and again in Antioch. Paul met one time with them in Jerusalem for 15 days, you remember. Now Peter comes to Antioch. And Peter and the others are not walking straight according to the Word. That word that you see up there in regards to they were not straight forward, it means that they weren't on the straight edge. It can also, when you look at this term, it talks about the narrowness of it. And they were not on the narrow way that was there. The truth of the gospel is being likened to a straight and narrow path. And these people are off course. So Paul begins this dialogue with Peter and he says, we are Jews by nature, not sinners from among the Gentiles. Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, since by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified. So this term, justification, that we have talked from and you have heard so many times coming from our pulpit, reminds us of the fact that it is like a legal term that was used in the court of law. It means to be proclaimed innocent, to be acquitted, to be cleared of all charges. In a biblical sense, to be justified means to be declared righteous before the bar of God's justice. Now, Philip Ryken, in his commentary, speaks this time in terms of how Paul mentions this doctrine. He says, he first states the doctrine in general terms. Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. This explains God's general method for salvation. How does a person get right with God? Not by keeping God's law, but by trusting in Jesus Christ. Law keeping cannot justify anyone. How plain Peter was to the Galatian believers. They had received it, embraced it, they had even proclaimed it in the streets. They had rejoiced with Paul, but yet, they were allowing themselves to get enfolded back into the law. Second Philip will say in personal terms, even we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. Justification by faith is not simply a general principle about the way of salvation. It is a call to make a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. Now I would love at this point in time to move to rabbit trail that I can't go to. But there is a relationship that exists between justification and sanctification. If you have been made right with God in right standing, you know that in fact no longer do you pay the bill for your sins, but Christ pays the bill for that sin. you then are expected that as one who is in Christ who has been changed is going to mature. I do not believe that it is possible for one who calls himself a believer to look back 25 years and say, well, I haven't grown much. Because inside you is the presence of the Holy Spirit that will talk toward. But you've got to understand in terms of that is a personal commitment. Now He chose you. And in choosing you, how wonderful it is to think that we were brought in relationship to Him. And we have the privilege and the opportunity to rejoice in the work that we would do for His kingdom, for His glory. Now Philip will say, in universal terms, since by the works of the law no quest will be justified, what was true for Peter and Paul is true for everyone. In the yellow box, we must believe in Jesus Christ. Paul says it three times, we must put our faith in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus, in Christ. Faith is a total surrender to Jesus Christ, a complete acceptance of all that He is and all that He has done. The reason that faith justifies is that it takes on a price and Christ is the only one who can make us right with God. how wonderful it is to be able to sit and just consider, I am right with God because of Christ. Nothing that I have done, nothing that I will do, we are acceptable to God, not by keeping to ourselves, but by trusting in the only man who ever did keep it, and that's Jesus Christ. So he says, hey, listen, we were born Jews. Well, what does that mean? It means that it's not only they were not possibly Jews, that they could be a Gentile who later in life wanted to become a Jew, go through the right of circumstances, get back. We were born a Jew. And we were circumcised. And we were put under the law and we were raised by our parents and our teachers to in fact obey the law. But Paul's point is, did all of that save us? Did our obedience to the law do anything to justify us? Just because we're Jewish, does that do anything? And so he says, listen, nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. Now, this is why I think it's so important that as you study the word, studying the word to you does not equate to, I read the passage. Ask the pastor or one of the elders, Let's study Bible to go to. We'll talk to you about study Bibles. We'll talk to you about resources that are there. Because what does that word knowing mean? It means to perceive clearly. You see, they came to a point in time, as they grew up, they realized that the Mosaic Law was not going to make them right before God. They saw what they had never saw before, and God, bringing them to themselves, instructed them through Jesus Christ, the gospel, that he would die. He would die through crucifixion, that he would be buried and that he would be raised again. and that he took the penalty and the payment for our sin. And they said they had to be justified through faith only in Christ Jesus. And so he's saying, listen, Peter, you know this. Where's the Peter from Pentecost? Where's the Peter that had the vision in regards to that which is proper? And so we look at it and say, listen, Even we, and he is talking to Peter, Peter, both of us have believed in Christ Jesus. Two Jewish boys, we believe in Christ Jesus. We realize that the law could not save us. But if while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sins? May it never be. For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. So he says, but if while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners. You see, this is something we need to understand. We're born into this world either a Jew or a Gentile. And every one of us, whether a Jew or a Gentile, is born in sin. whether you're Jewish, whether you're Gentile, whether you're religious, or whether you're rebellious, all born into sin, we are all born into sin. And he says then, is Christ then a minister of sin? And what he is saying is, all of those laws we obeyed, Isaiah classified it where it was nothing more than filthy rags, sin before God, because man cannot produce righteous works. Then he says, are you telling me that if we put the law back on these Gentiles, make them circumcised, that somehow, that's going to say or do anything for them. Basically saying, no, you're making Christ a minister of sin. Basically saying, this is the most ridiculous thing, Peter, you have ever done. May it never be. Translated, no, no, no, no. Not possible, God forbid, no. Christ is not the sin promoter here. The Judaizers are. Now that word destroys means to cut you free from something. It's a beautiful picture of salvation. Within the book of Galatians, we talk about it's the Magna Carta of freedom. We have been released no longer underneath the bondage of sin, but we are free in Christ. And Paul says, that which I have destroyed, the transformation that has occurred within my life as the Holy Spirit had entered into me. And as I have been taught when I was after the Damascus Road experience in those three wonderful years, all that teaching that was given to me directly from Christ and from God, teaching me the gospel and showing me how my life was to surrender to him, I would throw it all away. But you know, sometimes that sits very close at home to us. There was a song in the 1980s, y'all love me because when I talk about songs, I talk about the religious songs of the 1980s that were given, but it was entitled First Love. And the verse went something like, first love, where have you gone? Love of a child so innocent, so free. Remember the transformation that occurred within your life when, in fact, you were justified and you stood right with God. Is that passion still there? That freedom that is there? The moment you bow before Jesus, you cut yourself free from the bondage and the condemnation, the control of the law, and he says, Peter, why in the world would you want to go back to that? So I would ask some of my friends that same question. Why in fact do you look and say that Jesus is your Savior, but it's going to make a difference of whether or not I do good things? And so I go to my church, and in my church, They encouraged me to do this, this, and this, that I might have a higher standing, be more right with God. You don't get more right with God. You don't get higher standing because you stand as a royal priesthood. You stand as heirs of an inheritance that cannot be defiled, as 1 Peter will say. And so he looks at him and he says, listen, I'm not going back. And he's saying, I'm standing on the hill. I have planted my flag. And the Galatian believers who are struggling because of what is being done now, I am going to fight for each and every one of them. How are we at that? Do we in fact hold the gospel so precious? Do we in fact cherish it so much that we will not let it be defiled? And for those that were once with us that are moving toward another thought, we will hold. And so he says, for through the wall I died to the wall so that I might live to God. You see, Paul was just as much a part of the wall as Peter when he grew up. But he said, I died to the wall. What he means by that is the law told me certain things I couldn't accomplish. The law can never accomplish what it demands and therefore he died to the law. It demands death for failure to accomplish what? It, the law says. And he said, I died. Now, when you look sometimes, again, I think it's important, wonderful men that understand The Hebrew and the Greek much more than I do as a layman. And so over the years I come, I study, I depend upon sources that help me in terms of it. I listen from the teaching pulpit. That tense of I died is what's called an aortas indicative active. Aortas indicative active is the tense that means I turned my back on it. I chose not to go that route anymore. There came a point in his life where he said, I turned my back. Because, what's he going to say later on? Then Jesus died needlessly if we believe in a single act of obedience to any law to provide righteousness. So I die. Calvin said to die to the law is to renounce it and to be free from its domination so that we have no competence in it and it does not hold us captive under the yoke of slavery. I will submit to you that within the body of believers, we have those that have placed themselves under a bondage of all the things that they believe that they must do. But like the Galatian believers, who I believe that Paul establishes the fact that they received Christ. He saw the coming of the Holy Spirit within their life, just as he had seen the other Gentiles. And so he looks at that, and we must look at that and say, let us not be held captive. In both Romans and in Galatians, Paul is referring to the fact that when a person exercises faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is placed in spiritual union with Christ in the historical event of his death and resurrection, in which the penalty of sin was paid in full. So now I would stop and say, let us look in regards to this doctrine associated with the union with Christ, but not today. But I will read Romans chapter 6. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, Certainly, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our own self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer is master over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life that he lives, he lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you may obey its lust. And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Can you not hear the Apostle Paul teaching these words to the Galatians and then coming back and reminding them that you are not under wall, but you are under grace. For though the wall I died to the wall so that I might live to God, I died. And then this first, I don't know how to get this first. Maybe we won't get to chapter three, who knows? This first is one that if you go through and you go up on the internet and you look at sermons, there must be millions of them. When Paul says, I've been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. You see, he says, the law doesn't define my life. I'm not a legalist. I'm not a libertine. I don't live with a perspective toward the law, I live to God. How did that happen? How did you go from the law defining everything, circumcision, all the restraints, all the restrictions, all the ceremonies, all the rituals, all the requirements? How did you go from that to just living to God? It said, I've been crucified with Christ. No longer I. Now there's a verse that defines what it is to be a Christian, and I would tell you That gives it to you. Crucified with Christ, you are dead. And being dead, it means I live for the love of the Savior who loved me, gave himself for me. I live in complete trust to him. And out of that trust becomes loving obedience. What does it mean I've been crucified with Christ? When He died, I died. The reason God can justify the one who has faith in Jesus is because Jesus paid in full the penalty for that believer's sin. Jesus was punished for the sins of those that would believe for all time to come. You are crucified with Christ. You come into the worship area and you find on this particular day that it is the day that you have given the opportunity to say goodbye to one who has passed on. And you can go to the coffin and you can see that individual. You can speak any words that you want to speak, but they will not impact him. Maybe you were unhappy with him, so you come and say, it's the only time in all the life that I have known with you that you could be quiet and listen. I have never liked you. No response. Because he's dead. What does it mean to be dead? It means so I live inside of this flesh. In standing right with God, I have a Holy Spirit that enables me. I have the opportunity not to respond with hate and bitterness, but rather to respond in a Christ-like love that is His. When they all walk out the door, I know I'm in trouble. So, he says, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the wall, then Christ died needlessly. You see? If you add works, then grace is no more grace. If you add works, grace is no more grace. So, sometimes when you're walking around and you're thinking about all that is resting on your shoulder in regards to Got to pray more, got to study more, got to be in church more, got to be a teacher in Sunday school, need to learn how to play the piano so I can play. All of these things that add up. Yes, as one who is Christ, you want to see yourself living for Christ and being in fellowship with the church. But you've got to recognize that none of those things add to your grace. We are going to touch the transition for about five minutes before we walk out the door. So, Paul stoutly defends the gospel and its message in chapters one and two. He uses his autobiography to be able to do that. And you remember, he carries us from the time before his conversion, his conversion, how he is transformed in Damascus, how he has opportunity to, in fact, for 14 years to preach the gospel a way only through God and through the Holy Spirit. And now he's gonna address the Galatians and faithfulness to the gospel as a result of the corruption of these false believers. So he begins to explain in chapter three and four the theology of that gospel, beginning with the rebuke. Now you remember when we started chapter number one, in the first five verses, he starts out, I'm Paul, I'm an apostle, here are the people that are with me. He gives a summary in two verses of the gospel and what it is, and he moves from verse five into verse six, and when he moves into verse six, you remember what he said? I love you guys." No. He said, I am amazed that you so quickly have turned, have moved away from the gospel. And so, He's going to give that rebuke that you're going to see in just a moment. Now this is a powerful portion of Scripture. It is powerful because of the fact that when you begin to continue to unfold chapters 3 and 4, as in chapters 1 and 2, we're going to see the Trinity of God. If you want to see the doctrine of the Trinity at work, come into Galatians chapter 3 and 4, because you're going to see the work of Christ, that through Christ God the Father has given and set you right before him. That given the gift of the Holy Spirit, you now have opportunity to in fact become mature, set apart, Christ-like. And so he says, by foolishly being bewitched by a false gospel or a false addition to the gospel, you have called into question the work of the Son and the Spirit and the Father. In other words, you have assaulted heaven at its height. This is an all out attack on the triune God. I don't always know exactly what righteous anger looks like. And sometimes I have to stop and say, is this righteous anger or is this wrong anger associated with it? But I do believe that we should have righteous anger in the fact of those that will take the purity of the gospel and manipulate it. Remember the word that he says. He says this word, bewitched. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Now I'm gonna touch that one verse and then we're gonna close for a moment. And your homework is to read one and two and chapters three and four. Now what he is saying here, there's a translation on one of my slides that taught the Phillips translation, J.P. Phillips. I love the Phillips translation just to read. It doesn't have accuracy, so if you're studying, you don't want to read that, but sometimes he uses some plain English. So here's his translation. You idiots. I kind of understand that word. You idiots. It gets the attention. Who has bewitched you? Now, it's very interesting. Who is in the singular? Now, what does that cause us to consider? You could say, oh, I know who bewitched you. It was the false teachers, the Judaizers who came from Jerusalem, came in and said, hey, listen, we agree with everything you say about Jesus Christ and being saved by him, but you've got to have circumcision. But you need to keep the law. And then you are in Christ. Then you are on the narrow path that's there. Who has bewitched you? That who being senior can lead us back to someone called Satan. We don't use his name very often, do we? Satan, the devil, the evil one. The one who at the end of the day wants to make our life as a believer One that will cause us to distrust everything that we know about our God. Who has bewitched you? Today in the 21st century, When I speak and say, oh, you go to the other books of the Bible and you listen in terms of commands that are to be given. As a soldier for 28 years, I knew what it was to obey a command. I obeyed the command, turn right, turn right. The reason why you didn't want to turn left is because if you turned left, you know, instead of going to the dining facility to eat lunch, You were going to go out to the obstacle course. Didn't want to run the obstacle course, really wanted to go to lunch. Who's bewitched you? Who's turned you? And this phrase is so powerful. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly betrayed as crucified? Now, I love listening to those that stand on a corner and they preach the gospel. I love because they give a picture with their words. So important, each, I think everyone who does street teaching goes through mine and says, how do I encapsulate the gospel? How do I ensure the essential elements are there? How do I paint a picture of the cross? Now, that word publicly portrayed, publicly portrayed, it's a word that we would associate with public relations. It means taking a placard, putting the placard and saying, free food, run fast. What Paul did was put a placard up in front of the Galatian believers. It wasn't a piece of paper, it was His words. Now, do you see a cross anywhere in this worship center? You don't. Have you ever asked yourself the question, why? How do we want you to see the cross? We don't want you to see the cross by a stick figure. We want you to see the cross, Christ crucified, paying for our sins. The debt that we owed that we could not pay, that he paid in full and set us free, set us right. And so Paul painted a word picture and he says to them, Don't you remember those words? Don't you remember that picture that's placed before you that you should see? The images that we see, we keep. That's a terrible thing, isn't it? Hard to get away. Those things, though, are just a shadow. Cross is just a shadow. but the words behind it are the cross, Jesus Christ. So he's gonna move from there and he's gonna say, okay, did you not receive the Holy Spirit? Did you not, in fact, do good works? But those works did not account for righteousness, but were the result of having been transformed. You act on behalf of your King and your Lord. And then he's gonna move into, and he's gonna talk about Abraham, and it's gonna be wonderful. Because the Galatians are sitting there and saying, you just went into our trap. you're going to talk about Abraham. We love Abraham because he was circumcised. But Paul is going to do something much different. as he goes back into chapter 17 and begins to talk about what Abraham, how he was saved. He was counted righteous. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day, the opportunity you give us. So much, Father, within your word. I pray, Father, for each and every one that's here, and I pray for myself that we might have more and more a greater thirst and hunger for your word. We thank you for calling for his example. And we thank you for the Galatian believers because we can identify sometimes what it is to be tossed to and fro because of our immaturity. Oh might we, through the Holy Spirit, continue to be matured so that we see clearly your word and what it has to say to us. In your name we pray, amen.